The Seeds

A handy two-fer CD containing the Seeds' first two -- and best, although the third, Future, is pretty great too -- albums, The Seeds/A Web of Sound is a handy introduction for newcomers. (It also supersedes the GNP Crescendo reissue of The Seeds, which tacks most of A Web of Sound but has noticeably muddier sound.) The Seeds is probably the best album by any of the original American garage bands, without the usual time-filling cover versions and elongated jams, and of course it features the immortal "Pushin' Too Hard" and the even better "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," two classics of the Nuggets era. A Web of Sound is far weirder, tempering the snotty aggression of the original a bit with some heavier psychedelic flourishes like the weirdly electronic whine that overshadows all the other instruments on "Mr. Farmer" and the 14-minute epic "Up in Her Room," which is basically "Pushin' Too Hard" minus the familiar Kinks-rip-off riff, leading into a hypnotic coda that's merely the title repeated jackhammer-like over the same chord change for what seems like an eternity but is never quite long enough. It's like the L.A. equivalent of "Sister Ray." ~ Stewart Mason|